Shuggie Otis at MHOW in April (more by Greg Cristman)

The Nines Festival is returning to Devens, MA (38 miles west of Boston) this year on August 10 at Willard Field. Artists playing include Explosions in the Sky, Shuggie Otis, Delta Spirit, Kid Koala, and more. Early bird tickets for the festival go on sale Friday (6/7) at 10 AM.

Cult soul singer Shuggie Otis has other upcoming dates, including two free NYC shows around the time of the Nines Festival happening on August 8 at MetroTech Commons as part of BAM's 2013 R&B Festival and Central Park Summerstage on August 11 with Jose James, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Op! (DJ).

All Shuggie Otis dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Nines Festival 2013 lineup: Explosions in the Sky, Kid Koala, Delta Spirit, Shuggie Otis (who plays 2 free NYC shows)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Black Hippy - "U.O.E.N.O" Remix (MP3)

When we first realized Rhye wasn't as mysterious as we thought, it was brought into the public consciousness that one half of the duo was Mike Milosh (better known as just Milosh) and Robin Hannibal, who is also one half of the duo Quadron with Coco O. Quadron is set to release a new album, Avalanche, on June 4 via Vested in Culture/Epic, and in very exciting news, the first single, "Better Off," features a verse from Kendrick Lamar. Pitchfork mentions that Robin and Coco were also in a group called Boom Clap Bachelors, whose song "Tiden Flyver" is prominently sampled in Kendrick's "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe." Check out "Better Off" below, along with the album tracklist. That's the artwork above.

Quadron also have some tour dates coming up around the time of the album's release. They'll be a support act for some of the dates on Jose Gonzalez's group Junip's previously discussed tour, including the NYC date happening on June 13 at Highline Ballroom. Barbarossa is on that show too, which is sold out.

Quadron will also return to NYC for a free, all ages show opening for UK singer Lianne La Havas at Central Park Summerstage on July 27. DJ Center will be on the boards that night too.

As discussed, Kendrick Lamar will also be in the NYC-area for Summer Jam, Governors Ball, and Rock the Bells. Kendrick and the rest of the Black Hippy crew (Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock) just remixed Rocko's "U.O.E.N.O," which you can download above and stream below.

All Quadron dates are listed, along with the song streams and album artwork, below...

Continue reading "Quadron (mem. of Rhye) releasing new LP (stream a track w/ Kendrick Lamar), opening for Junip and Lianne La Havas"

Twin Shadow @ Pitchfork 2011 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Twin Shadow is about to kick off a "True Story" tour in California that quickly hits Sasquatch before visting Chicago, Governors Ball in NYC, Texas and many other places before ending back in Cali. Twin Shadow will then take a break before playing a big, free hometown show at Central Park Summerstage with Autre Ne Veut, Elliphant and DJ Million Dollar Mano on 8/17. All dates are listed with the "True Story" explanation below.

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Most of TS's tour is with Pitchfork/Swedish Grammys-approved pop star Elliphant who we mentioned headlines her only upcoming non-Twin Shadow North American date in Brooklyn at Glasslands on June 11. Tickets are still available. Openers are Heartsrevolution and Computer Magic (DJ Set).

"She's actually part of the same production family as Icona Pop, but as Elliphant, she frays Scandinavian pop precision at the edges to join up to a more global patchwork that runs from Mad Decent affiliates M.I.A. and Maluca to the junkheap magpie nest of Staff Benda Bilili." [Pitchfork]

Autre Ne Veut, who recently played Pianos (twice), only has four upcoming shows we know about at the moment. One is with Twin Shadow at Summerstage, one is Pitchfork Festival, one is ACL, and one is in Miami. They're also all listed below...

Continue reading "Twin Shadow touring w/ Elliphant, playing free Central Park show w/ Autre Ne Veut (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Disclosure at MHOW last month (more by Jason Bergman)

Yesterday (4/22), Summerstage announced its 2013 season. But one of the shows that was not on that announcement and was just revealed today is a co-headlining double bill by dance duos Disclosure and TNGHT at Central Park Summerstage on August 6 with support from Julio Bashmore. The show starts at 6 PM so the only downside of this is that it might not be dark yet during Disclosure or TNGHT's set depending on which one goes first. But that aside, this is going to be one of wildest Summerstage shows of the summer. Tickets go on sale Friday (4/26) at noon. The show happens right after Disclosure plays Lollapalooza. TNGHT doesn't play that festival, but they do play a different Chicago festival in July, Pitchfork.

Disclosure recently announced that their debut album, Settle, will be out June 3 via PMR. It features previously released singles, "White Noise" (feat. AlunaGeorge) and "Latch" (feat. Sam Smith), in addition to the just-released track, "You & Me" (feat. Eliza Doolittle). If you didn't hear that one yet, it's just as awesome as their previous tracks and ups the excitement even more for that album to drop. Check it out below.

TNGHT also slightly less recently revealed a new track in support of their tour which just hit Coachella twice and NYC once. The track is called "Acrylics" and it's even more of a banger than anything on last year's self titled EP. Stream that one below as well.

All dates for both Disclosure and TNGHT are listed, along with both song streams, below...

Continue reading "Disclosure & TNGHT co-headlining Central Park Summerstage in August (updated dates & song streams)"

The Underachievers @ BrooklynVegan-SXSW (more by Bruno Simões)

Summerstage presents free shows in parks around NYC each summer. One of those parks is Red Hook Park where 2013 shows will happen on June 4 - 7. Check out the exact schedule below...

Continue reading "free shows in Red Hook Park (2013 schedule includes Rakim, Flatbush Zombies, and Ty Segall)"

by Andrew Sacher

It was pretty exciting earlier this year when baroque pop legends The Zombies (who just released a RSD 12") toured with support from Elephant Stone, and now, as revealed in today's Summerstage 2013 lineup announcement, they'll be playing a show in NYC with another band they've surely influenced, Django Django. That show happens on June 15 at Central Park Summerstage and also includes Adam Green & Binki Shapiro and a DJ set by Modest P. The show is free to the public. It's a day show which runs from 3 to 7 PM so it could be a good one to catch before heading to Brooklyn for Northside Festival that night.

Adam Green & Binki Shapiro will be in the NYC-area even sooner when their tour with Father John Misty and Jessica Pratt hits Maxwell's on May 17 (sold out). UPDATE: We just learned that Adam Green & Binki dropped off the Father John Misty tour.

The Central Park show is part of The Zombies' US spring/summer tour which hits the Bergen Performing Arts Center (6/13) in NJ and Mohegan Sun (6/14) in CT right beforehand. All dates are listed, along with a video of their full Live on KEXP set at SXSW (where they were sounding especially great), below...

Continue reading "The Zombies expand tour, playing Central Park Summerstage w/ Django Django and Adam Green & Binki Shapiro (dates)"

Summerstage has just announced its 2013 season. Highlights include:

Flatbush Zombies / The Underachievers (6/4, Red Hook Park)

Ty Segall's new band Fuzz (6/6, Red Hook Park)

The Zombies/Django Django (6/15, Central Park)

Femi Kuti/Sinkane (6/23, Central Park)

Members of REM, THe dB's, Rosebuds and more in celebration of Big Star's Third (6/30, Central Park)

She & Him / Camera Obscura (7/6, Central Park)

Black Sheep / Das EFX / Marley Marl (7/18, Queensbridge Park)

Lianne La Havas / LP / Quadron (7/27, Central Park)

Ben Howard / Michael Kiwanuka (7/28, Central Park)

Pete Rock vs. DJ Premier (8/27, East River Park)

Mac DeMarco (8/28, East River Park)

Continue reading "Summerstage announces full 2013 line-up"

As mentioned, cult psychedelic soul singer/instrumentalist Shuggie Otis, who released three solo albums including 1974's classic Inspiration Information (whose song "Strawberry Letter 23" you may recognize as the sample in Outkast's "Ms. Jackson"), is reissuing that album this year with bonus tracks along with a compilation of previously unreleased material recorded between 1975 and 2000 called Wings of Love. The albums come out April 16 via Epic/Legacy and can be pre-ordered now. That's the cover art above and the tracklists for both albums and a stream of Inspiration Information are below.

Shuggie announced a tour in support of the new album which hits NYC on April 19 at BB King's (tickets) and he's recently expanded it to include international dates and another NYC show happening much sooner at Highline Ballroom on January 10 with People Get Ready, Ofei, Joshua Nelson, and DJ Kool Herc. That show is being co-presented by Summerstage and Santa Monica Pier Curators and tickets are on sale now.

An updated list of dates, album tracklists, and streams are below...

Continue reading "Shuggie Otis reveals more album details, expands tour including NYC date next week (updated dates)"

photos by Tracy Allison

Dr. Dog at Central Park Summerstage - 9/20/12

[Dr. Dog] played behind an altered American flag with neon colors and only three stars (the symbolism escaped me). Quickly, they settled into the pattern of slow opening verses leading to huge climactic choruses, with harmonized oohs and aahs. Some cute touches were added to "I Only Wear Blue" and "The Old Days" when an electronic effect such as a horse nay and hand claps were added. But the big and memorable moment came when Delta Spirit's Matt Vasquez stumbled onto the stage during "Worst Trip." With a shaker in hand, he jumped around and eventually made his way atop Leaman's shoulders for the end of the song [The House List]

Continue reading "Dr. Dog, Delta Spirit and Kishi Bashi played Central Park Summerstage (pics & video)"

Authorities have issued tornado watches for the New York City metropolitan area as intense winds and rain and possible severe thunderstorms bear down on the region.

The tornado watch for the city, Sullivan, Rockland and Orange counties and all of New Jersey is in effect until 7 p.m. The watch was expanded Tuesday afternoon to include Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, Ulster, Dutchess and Putnam counties in New York and Fairfield County in Connecticut. Those later tornado watches expire at 11 p.m.

Half-inch-sized hail, dangerous lightning and wind gusts of up to 70 mph are possible with this storm, meteorologists say. [NBC]

by Dominick Mastrangelo

Ben Folds Five @ Central Park Summerstage 9/14/2012

Coming into Friday night's Ben Folds Five show at Rumsey Playfield (9/14), I carried none of the usual trepidation that surrounds reunion shows. Armed with how impeccably they pulled off their "MySpace Front-To-Back" performance of 1999's moody swan song The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner four years ago - the band's first performance since parting ways in 2000 - I knew this was going to be a memorable night.

Friday night brought back all the best possible memories of seeing these guys five times between 1997 and 1998: from raucous, hot, sweaty club shows in Dallas and Austin to memorably driving from Fort Worth to Houston in the rain with broken windshield wipers wondering if drummer Darren Jessee had followed through with a promise to put my friend and me on the guest list for their sold-out show. (He did.) And then, after the show, they all signed my vinyl copy of Whatever and Ever Amen. It's this kind of nostalgia that's in jeopardy when bands long dormant decide to get back together.

But Ben Folds, Jessee and Robert Sledge ("On the bass guitar!") harmonize as well now as they did during those shows 15 years ago. It was not only exciting to hear songs like "Theme from 'Dr. Pyser'" and "Alice Childress" (one of my favorite songs in their catalog) but to hear them performed so perfectly.

They played for an hour and 45 minutes sprinkling in songs from their new record, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, (out this week) among the familiar ones the crowd came to sing along to such as "Battle of Who Could Care Less" and "Song for the Dumped." And, of course, they played "Brick," their biggest hit. (Personally, I was hoping "Missing the War" and "Fair" would have made it into the set but that's quibbling. Perhaps when they come back next month for Comic Con.)

The night ended in classic Ben Folds Five fashion as Folds fired his piano stool from distance striking the Baldwin right on the keys to end set-closer "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces."

More pictures from Ben Folds Five's Summerstage performance, along with the setlist and pics of opener Kate Miller Heidke, are below. Also below is BF5's new video for "Do it Anyway" that features help from Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock.

Continue reading "Ben Folds Five played Central Park Summerstage (pics, setlist, review); made a Fraggle-filled video for "Do it Anyway""

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

Beirut at Central Park Summerstage - 8/29/12

Beirut brought their tour to NYC for a show at Central Park Summerstage last night (8/29) with Little Scream. Pictures from that show are in this post. Beirut will continue their tour this weekend with FYF Fest, which will kick off a west coast run for the band that also includes MusicFestNW, before they head over to Europe later next month.

More pics and a couple videos from last night's show are below.

Continue reading "Beirut and Little Scream played Central Park Summerstage (pics & videos)"

East River Park Summerstage in 2010 (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Free Summerstage shows at East River Park are underway and will be going down throughout this week and next. As mentioned, tonight (8/19), UCB Comedy will be presenting The All-Stars of Improv with two acts of improvised comedy from various performers. Tonight's show starts at 7 PM just after the Jamaica 50th Independence Day celebration is wrapping up farther uptown at Central Park Summerstage.

Other shows at East River Park include the previously discussed Red Bull Music Academy co-presented show with Araabmuzik, Flosstradamus, Teengirl Fantasy, and Nick Hook on Monday (8/20), the previously discussed Lyricist Lounge 20th Anniversary show on Wednesday (8/22) with DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock, and the Two Boots 25th Anniversary show on Thursday (8/23) with Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Mamarazzi, Odetta Hartman, Himalayas, and The Whiskeyhickon Boys. That show will be hosted by Luis Guzman, will feature poetry from Nuyorican Poet's Café: Caroline Rothstein, Mahogany Browne, and Marshall "Soulful" Jones, and performance art from Lady Circus and the Magic Beans, Free Art Society, and 4Heads Art Collective, plus free pizza.

An updated East River Park schedule is below...

Continue reading "free East River Park shows are underway (updated schedule)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Sacher

M83 at Central Park Summerstage - 8/8/12

Laser light shows, clouds of fog, thrashing guitars, an orchestra, and club bangers are just a few of the things seen on stage at M83's sold out Central Park Summerstage show last night (8/8). Like Animal Collective, who achieved a similar feat back in 2009, M83 spent about a decade as one of indie rock's most consistent bands, and when the release of 2011's arena-sized Hurry Up, We're Dreaming inevitably put M83 in arena-sized venues, they were more than ready for it. Main member Anthony Gonzalez really knows how to be a frontman, fulfilling the most classic definitions of the word (he does things like yell "NEW YORK!" in between songs). The band's light show is phenomenal, blending a glossy 80s aesthetic with a keen sense of futurism. They've got lasers, floodlights, spotlights, and four light-up panels on stage which shift in color and shape throughout the show. And every member of the band looks like they're having a great time on stage for the whole set. When members switch instruments, they don't simply walk over to their new position, instead they prefer to dance their way over. When a band has that massive a presence, it's hard to ignore them.

That said, I can't promise everyone in attendance felt the same. Unfortunate to admit, but the only song that really got the crowd going wild was "Midnight City," and I definitely felt the density of people lighten after that one ended. Summerstage's sound system wasn't quite loud enough for this one and it helped make it too possible to hear all of the talking going on during songs. The only other downside was that the band's set was way too short (just an over an hour), especially for a band with six studio albums and a 70+ minute double album as their breakthrough. But all road bumps aside, this was a great show and certainly one to remember. The setlist hit all the high points of Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, including "Intro," "Reunion," "Wait," and "Steve McQueen," and dipped into their back catalog as well, reaching as far back as their 2001 debut. At this point the band have both the potential and the right to play a "hits" set, but they continue to throw in instrumental tracks, which add to the flow of the show and promise that M83 might be dipping a foot in mainstream waters, but like all great crossover bands, they're also keeping one on the land where they started.

M83 will be back in NYC when their ongoing tour brings them here for two Hammerstein shows (10/2-3) and a Wellmont show (10/4) in October. All three of those shows are with Sun Airway.

Big Black Delta opened last night's show. More pictures of both bands and M83's setlist are below.

Continue reading "M83 played Central Park Summerstage (pics, review, setlist)"

DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - I Need You Close mixtape (WAV)

Sun Airway

M83's sold-out Central Park Summerstage show is tonight (8/8) and sure to be quite the A/V spectacle under the stars. If you didn't get tickets, the band have a number of shows this fall, including the just-announced October 4 show at Wellmont Theatre, and two at Hammerstein (10/2-3) before that.

Opener for tonight's show is Big Black Delta who is Los Angeles resident Jonathan Bates, formerly of Mellowdrone if you remember them from the mid-'00s. You can stream a track below plus his remix of M83's "Midnight City." BBD (not to be confused with BV's own BBG) will play two additional NYC shows at Pianos this month on August 9 and August 17 and tickets are still available to both. They also play Brooklyn Bowl on August 11 with St. Lucia and Capital Cities (tickets). All Big Black Delta tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

While on the subject of M83 openers, Sun Airway will be touring with the band this fall, and will be at all three NYC shows in October. All Sun Airway tour dates are listed at the bottom of this post. The band's new album, Soft Fall, is out October 2 (the same date as the first Hammerstein show) via Dead Oceans. You can stream the album's first single, "Close," below. The band just released a new mixtape featuring Boards of Canada, Bowie, Dirty Projectors, The Chemical Brothers and more. You can check out the track list below and stream it, or download it above (warning: it's a half-gig wav file).

Streams and lists of tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Big Black Delta open for M83, playing Pianos; Sun Airway ready new LP, opening for M83 in Oct (dates & streams)"

photos by David Andrako

Old Crow Medicine Show at Central Park Summerstage - 8/6/12

Three members of the mindie folk scene, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Lumineers, and The Milk Carton Kids, teamed up for a sold out Summerstage show at Central Park last night (8/6). More pictures from that show are below.

Continue reading "Old Crow Medicine Show, Lumineers & Milk Carton Kids played Central Park Summerstage (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Yeasayer - "Henrietta" (MP3)

Yeasayer at Jones Beach 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Yeasayer's new album, Fragrant World, is in about three weeks (August 21) and, as mentioned before, the band will be playing Central Park Summerstage on September 12 with openers Daughn Gibson Tanlines and Daedelus. Before that, the band will play a Brooklyn show, which they've just added to their summer tour: August 15 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Daedelus opening. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday, August 3 at noon.

If you haven't yet, you can download Fragrant World track "Henrietta" above and watch the "official vignette" for "Longevity" below. Updated tour dates are below as well.

Continue reading "Yeasayer add Brooklyn show to summer tour (updated dates)"

by Bill Pearis

Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars

The first job I had when I moved to NYC was in an office building at Bleeker and Broadway and, at the time, the nearby cheap lunch options were a really greasy hotdog joint right on the corner, fast food chains up the street...and the Two Boots branch on Bleeker which is where I ate almost every day. It was the first time this West Virginia transplant had seen vegan pizza, or pies named for pop culture references ("The Larry Tate," "The Newman"). And while we've now got fancypants pizza like Roberta's and Motorino, Two Boots and their Cajun-influenced pie is still kickin'...and still really good.

Anyhoo...the East Village chain is celebrating it's 25th Anniversary this year and are throwing a free concert on August 23 at East River Park with Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars and supporting sets from Mamarazzi, Odetta Hartman, Himalayas and The Whiskeyhickon Boys. The party goes from 5 - 9PM and will also feature free pizza.

The Two Boots show is part of Summerstage's late-August line-up at East River Park that features comedy, dance, performance art and music. Programming includes The Upright Citizens Brigade "All-Stars of Improv" on August 19, the Lyricist Lounge 20 Year Anniversary with Pete Rock vs. DJ Premier on August 22 and more.

Full East River Park Summerstage schedule is below...

Continue reading "Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars playing Two Boots 25th Anniversary concert ++ more East River Park shows in August"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Beach House, Central Park Summerstage 7/23/2012

If there's any band to see while a storm begins to brew overhead, it may just be Beach House. Some of those lightning flashes last night at their Summerstage performance in Central Park seemed almost synchronized to what they were playing. While a noticeable stream of people left as the weather worsened midway through the show, the band played on and their set didn't seem to be cut short by the rain. (Setlist is at the bottom of this post.) And while some Summerstage shows can be on the quiet side, Beach House were thunderous.

Fellow Baltimorians Lower Dens, a late-announced addition (after their Bowery performance), opened the show. More pictures from last night's show are below and if you haven't been keeping up, we've also posted pics of both bands from Pitchfork Fest.

Continue reading "Beach House & Lower Dens played Central Park (pics, setlist)"

DOWNLOAD: Husky [Australia] - Tidal Wave (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Husky [Australia] - History's Door (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Husky [Mexico] - Miami (MP3)

Husky from Australia / Husky from Mexico

Melbourne, Australia's indie folk quartet Husky just released their debut album, Forever So, this week on Sub Pop. (The first AU band on the label, for what it's worth.) With a love of The Hollies, CSNY and America (the band, not the country, though I'm sure they love us too) the band make delicately swooning pop that's a cut above some of the other bands working in a similar idiom. You can download two tracks from the album at the top of this post and the whole thing is streaming below via a Spotify widget, along with a video for "History's Door).

Husky are coming over for a North American tour in August with two NYC stops: a free Summerstage on 8/18 as part of Australia Day which also features Sheppard, High Highs, George Byrne, Maya Jupiter, Dj Ashley Feraude and Kid Zoom; and then a show at Joe's Pub on 8/21 to which tickets are on sale. All Husky tour dates are listed below.

Just so no one is confused (or perhaps confusing you more), there is also a Husky from Monterey, Mexico who are visting NYC as we speak and play 285 Kent on Friday (7/13) with Widowspeak, Total Slacker and Parquet Courts, and XPO 929 on Saturday (7/14) with Gradients, Island Twins and Parquet Courts again. They also play Cake Shop on July 24. While definitely on the rock side, they are also quite pop-oriented and you could probably convince yourself, if you didn't know better, that this Husky's Weekend Lovers EP (which you can stream via a Spotify widget below as well) was the same band as the one signed to Sub Pop. You can download their single "Miami" at the top of this post and watch the video below.

All tour dates for both Husky and Husky, plus streams and videos, are below.

Continue reading "Husky from Australia released an album on Sub Pop, touring in August; Husky from Mexico playing NYC this weekend"

photos by Chris La Putt, words by Andrew Sacher

Guided by Voices/Cloud Nothings

One of the many shows that went down in NYC this past weekend as part of the CBGB Festival was the big, free day show at Central Park Summerstage on Saturday (7/7) with Guided by Voices, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The War On Drugs, and Cloud Nothings. Despite the heat wave that hit NYC over the weekend, many braved the high temperatures to catch this stacked show, which was pretty packed from start to finish. Presumably because it was a 4-band bill and was a day show, the openers got pretty short sets, but nonetheless all four bands were great and little time was wasted.

Cloud Nothings kicked off the day at 3 PM with a 5-song set that relied entirely on this year's Attack on Memory. Considering how short the set was, they did manage to keep things pretty varied. Between "Separation," the interlude they prefaced it with, and the extended jam of "Wasted Days," about half of their set was instrumental, and they balanced that with the album's two poppiest tracks, "Stay Useless" and "Fall In." A hot sunny day in central park isn't exactly the appropriate place for a mosh pit or anything, but there was a good amount of dancing and singing along, especially during the closing screams of "Wasted Days."

Then The War on Drugs cooled things off with their breezy folk rock, opening strong with Slave Ambient standout, "Baby Missiles." The band's floaty atmospheres can get pretty meandering (in a good way), but are always grounded by the band's relentlessly upbeat drummer. They work in nice touches of noise and ambience, most notably doing so when the bassist played a droning trumpet through an effect laden mic before going into the anthemic "Come to the City."

Up next were The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who immediately woke up the lazy, sweat-dripping crowd with a super energetic set, kickstarted by the driving "Heaven's Gonna Happen Now." Frontman Kip Berman doesn't let up for the entire show, rocking out through every song while bearing a spot-on delivery. They played a pretty solid mix of material off both full lengths, all of which were bright pop blasts, delivered even clearer and bigger than the increased lo-to-mid-fi production on the newer album. The band, who on Saturday were augmented by Connor from The Drums on second guitar, didn't really hit any low points and played through tons of favorites like "Young Adult Friction," "Heart In Your Heartbreak," and more.

The show wrapped up with the much-anticipated headlining set by Guided by Voices which came after multiple crowd chants of "GBV, GBV, GBV!" The band, whose influential brand of lo-fi was responsible for helping to set the groundwork that all three of the opening bands heavily work into their sound, walked on stage, cigarettes in hand, and in extremely high spirits for the appreciative crowd. They focused their set mostly on material off of their two 2012 full lengths, Let's Go Eat the Factory and Class Clown Spots a UFO, their first two albums since 2004. Because of GBV's notoriously short songs, they only took about ten minutes to bang out the same amount of songs that the opening bands played in their entire sets, and both the band and the crowd were really into it. Robert Pollard's playful stage banter was intact (he said something about how during his last Central Park show he got in trouble for throwing beer cans into the audience) and the band's on-stage demeanor was just as lively, complete with split kicks from guitarist Mitch Mitchell, and the head-nodding, singing-along bassist, Greg Demos.

More pictures from the Central Park show, including one of GBV's setlist, are below...

Continue reading "Guided by Voices, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, War on Drugs & Cloud Nothings played CBGB Fest at Summerstage (pics)"

Woody Guthrie was born on July 14th, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. Over the decades, his songs have run around the world like a fast train on a well oiled track. They've become the folk song standards of the nation, known and performed in many languages throughout the world. Pretty Boy Floyd, Pastures of Plenty, Hard Travelin', Deportees, Roll On Columbia, Vigilante Man and This Land Is Your Land are among the hundreds of his songs that have become staples in the canon of American music.

The GRAMMY Museum is partnering with the Guthrie Family / Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. and the Woody Guthrie Archives to create the Centennial celebrations. The year-long celebration will include a host of concerts, programs and events taking place throughout the country and across the pond.

The Guthrie Family ("Arlo Guthrie w/ Abe, Cathy, Annie, Sarah Lee, Johnny Irion...and the Kids") will celebrate with a "Guthrie Family Reunion" tour featuring three generations of Guthries. Arlo Guthrie commented:

"Getting the family together and heading out on the road is the perfect way to celebrate my father's centennial - only once before did we have the whole family on tour, and we did 80 shows. Instead of doing an entire year of touring and taking the kids out of school, we are focusing on shows right around Woody's actual birthday. This time of year marks the climax of the Woody Guthrie centennial celebrations all over the world. I'll also continue my solo touring in honor of my dad through spring 2013."

On July 10 (12-1 pm), NYC's 92YTribeca hosts author Ed Cray who will discuss his book "Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie."

Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion play Hill Country in NYC on 7/12.

On 7/14 head to Coney Island for a free screening of "Bound for Glory" on the beach along with "live music by Billy Bragg and Steve Earle starting at 8:00pm, and the feature film starting around 8:45pm." Get to Coney Island earlier and see a free screening of "Man In the Sand" at the Coney Island museum. "Following the film, there will be a book signing by Nora Guthrie and CD signing by Billy Bragg, with both items available for purchase."

City Winery in NYC will play host to a trio of events titled "Woodyfest" from July 11-13 Hosted by Steve Earle, the shows will feature an assortment of artists paying tribute to the troubador. July 11 features John Hammond & Tim Robbins, and more TBA (tickets). July 12 has Rachael Yamagata, The Wood Brothers & Allen Toussaint (tickets). July 13th features Billy Bragg, Amy Helm & Joe Purdy (tickets).

Brooklyn College will host a "Woody at 100" celebration on September 22 with a conference, and a tribute concert.

More events, dates, and some videos from the party that took place at the 2012 Clearwater Festival in June, below....

Continue reading "Woody Guthrie turns 100 (and that means lots of events)"

Ireland's arena-friendly dance rockers Two Door Cinema Club will return with their sophomore LP, Beacon, on September 4. Later that month, the band will be in NYC to play Summerstage at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on September 28. It's their only announced North American tour date announced so far. Tickets to the Summerstage show go on sale Friday, June 29 with an AmEx presale starting today (6/27) at noon.

Album art (which looks like it could've been for a late-'70s LP cover for Styx or REO Speedwagon), tracklist and video trailer are below.

Continue reading "Two Door Cinema Club ready 'Beacon,' playing Summerstage"

photos by Chris La Putt

Danny Brown / Schoolboy Q show their best sides at Summerstage 6/25/2012

Despite the rain, Danny Brown (who ended up playing first) and Schoolboy Q opened for Childish Gambino at their first of two NYC shows together last night (6/25) at Central Park Summerstage. Both rappers played their own sets and then also joined Childish Gambino on stage for part of his, which you can watch a video of below.

Danny, Q, and Childish will do it again tonight (6/26) at Prospect Park. Tickets for tonight's show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter, along with more pictures and a video from last night's show are below...

Continue reading "Danny Brown & Schoolboy Q supported Childish Gambino at Summerstage (pics); playing Prospect Park tonight (win tickets)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Alambama Shakes @ Central Park Summerstage

Alabama Shakes, who opened for Jack White at Roseland in May and have since played Bonnaroo, headlined a "sold out" free show at Central Park Summerstage in NYC this afternoon, Sunday, June 24th. Did you make it in. If not, did you listen from outside? Here are some pictures from the show.

Already packed when opener Robert Ellis went on around 3pm, the show also included a pre-shakes set by Diamond Rugs who headlined their own show (their first-ever in NYC) at the Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday night (and who play Letterman on Monday). As you may know by now, Diamond Rugs features members of Deer Tick, Dead Confederate, and Steve Berlin from Los Lobos.

Other upcoming Alabama Shakes dates include a recently announced Lollapalooza aftershow. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Alabama Shakes, Diamond Rugs & Robert Ellis played Central Park Summerstage (pics)"